Kolkata, Sep 9 (IANS): The West Bengal Police arrested a young man and seized five gold biscuits weighing more than 600 grams, valued at over Rs 90 lakh, during a routine vehicle check in the Sahebganj area under Dinhata police station in Cooch Behar district, the police said on Wednesday.
Acting on specific intelligence inputs regarding cross-border smuggling, a police team intensified checks along Sahebganj Road on Tuesday night. The police intercepted the suspect, identified as Rezaul Haque, a resident of Chowdhuryhat panchayat, after discovering the contraband concealed within his clothing.
According to the police, personnel were conducting naka checking on the road when they noticed a person behaving suspiciously. During the search, the man lifted his shirt, following which the police noticed five gold biscuits concealed inside the belt of his trousers.
The man was questioned by the police, but he initially refused to provide any information about the source of the gold. He was subsequently taken into custody and arrested.
The accused was identified as Rezaul Haque, a resident of the Chowdhuryhat gram panchayat area under Sahebganj police station. The police said the five gold biscuits recovered from his possession weighed a little over 681 grams. The seized gold has been confiscated and sent for further examination as part of the investigation.
Investigators are now trying to establish where Haque obtained the gold and whether he was acting alone or as part of a larger smuggling network. The police suspect that he may be linked to a gold smuggling racket operating in the region.
Haque will be produced before a court on Wednesday, after which the police are expected to seek his custody for further questioning.
The latest seizure comes amid growing concerns over gold smuggling in the Dinhata and adjoining border areas. A few days ago, the police recovered gold biscuits concealed inside tennis balls in the border area of Dinhata. The discovery had led investigators to suspect the involvement of an organised gold smuggling network in the region.
In another major recovery last month, gold worth more than Rs 1 crore was seized at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata. Airport authorities said around 900 grams of gold was recovered during a raid on a Kolkata-bound flight from Bangkok. Two passengers were arrested in connection with the seizure.
Earlier, on August 6, the police recovered gold and diamond jewellery worth around Rs 1 crore from the same airport. The jewellery, which was studded with rubies and emeralds, was recovered from domestic cargo. One person was arrested in connection with the seizure.
